Chair



(Nol Model.) 'W'l G. MAGBE.

CHAIR.

No. 543,744. vPantented July 30, 1895.

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" UNITED STA-TES 4PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MAGEE, OF HDSON, NEV YORK. i

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,744, dated July 30, 1895.

Application filed September 13, 1894. Serial No. 522,933. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Y

' Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. MAGEE, of Hudson, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Chair, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in chairs, and particularly to invalid-chairs.

The object of my invention is to produce an extremely simple and comparatively inexpensive chair which combines the functions of an ordinary reclining-chair, a rocking-chair, and a wheeled chair, which is provided with very simple adjusting mechanism for shifting the position of the chair in relation to the wheels, which is also provided with simple devices for converting the chair from one form to another, and which is so constructed th at the chair may be automatically converted from a reclining to a roller chair by simply moving the body and rocking the chair forward.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed. v

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar gures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1` is a' side elevation of the chair embodyingmyinvention, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, the chair in both views being shown resting on its wheels. Fig, 3 isa detail section, partly in elevation, of the locking means for holding the front end of the chair elevated.

vThe chair is provided with the usual seat 10, legs 11, rockers 12, and arms 13, andit also has the customary back 14, which is hinged to the seat, as shown at 15, and is connected with the arms by links 16, these being pivote-d to the arms, as shown at 17, and provided With a series of holes 18 to receive fastening-pins 19, by which the links are secured to the chair-back, and by means of the pins and links the chair-back may be adj usted to any desired inclination.

The chair is provided on opposite sides with two large wheels 20, which are high enough to be easily reached and turned by the hand of a person sitting in the chair, and the axles 21 of these wheels are journaled in the front ends of levers 22, which are fulcrumed, as shown at 23, in suitable hangers 24, and eX- tend backward behind the chair, so that by moving them up or down the wheels may be raised or lowered so as to permit the chair to rest on its rockers or ride on the wheels, as desired.

The hangers 24 are firmly secured to the chair-seat at opposite sides, and they have rearwardly and downwardlyextending curved arms 25, which are provided with holes 26, 27, and 28 to receive pins 29, which project through the levers 22, and by adjusting the pins in the proper holes the wheels may be held at any necessary height in relation to the chair-body.

The chair is provided with a third Wheel 30,

which is centrally arranged and is placed behind the chair and between the rockers 12, this wheel beingsubstantially like the ordinary caster-wheel and having a vertical shank 31 which is pivoted in the rear end of an adjusting lever 32, and this is fulcrumed on a hanger 33 beneath the chair-seat 10, and the front end of the lever is adapted to engage a spring-bolt 34 which is inclined on the under side, as shown in Fig, 2, so that when the front end of the lever swings upward it will slide over the spring-bolt which, by engaging the under side of the lever, prevents it from accidentally returning. The spring-bolt 34, by holding the front end of the lever in a raised position, holds the rear end in a depressed position andl thus keeps the caster-wheel on the floor, so that it will prevent the chair from tipping back. The front end of the lever 32 moves between guides 35 on the chair-seat and this prevents the lever from swaying laterally. Means may be provided for turning the caster-wheel to the right or left so as to steer the chair, any

lusual device being employed, although 1 have shown nothing forthe purpose. It will be seen that by bringing the main wheels to a bearing on the floor the front ends of the rockers will be'elevated. lVhen in this position the occupant of the chair may rock for ward, thus lifting the back of the chair, and the rear endof the lever 32 will then drop, carrying the front end of the lever above the spring-bolt 34, and so the chair is in this way ICI) automatically changed from a rocking or reclining into a roller chair.

The springfbolt 34 is connected by a rod 37 with the lower arm 38 of a double lever, which is fulcrumed on the chair-seat, and the upper arm 39 of the lever connects by a rod 40 with a bell-crank 41, which is journaled on a suitable support at one side of the chair-seat and is connected With a pullrod 42 which slides in a guide 43 on the chairarm and terminates in a handle 44. By pulling up the handle44 the rod 42 is raised, the levers 41, 38, and 39 tilted, and the springbolt pulled out so as to permit the front end of the lever 32 to drop, and the chair is thus converted into a reclining or rocking-chair, as the case may be.

It' the chair is to be uscd as a recliningchair, the caster-wheel 30 is raised, the chair arranged to rest on its rockers, and after the chair is tilted back to the desired position a l rod 45 on one of the front legs is pushed downward so as to hold the chair in the desired position. This rod extends downward through the leg and has at thebottom a foot 46 to rest on the iioor, and when the rod is raised this foot rests in a socket 4G in one of the rockers l2.

The rod 45 is locked either down or up by a bolt 47 which projects into the chair-leg, and this is Worked bya bell-crank 4S, pivoted on one side of the chair-seat and held by a spring 49, so as to throw the bolt normally into engagement Vwith the rod, and the bellcrank may be tilted so asto rrelease the bolt by a pull-rod 50, which works in a guide 5l on oneof the chair-arms, this being shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, and the rod basa suitable handle 52 at the top, which may be conveniently grasped.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. As an improvementin rocking chairs, the colnbination with a rocker frame having arm rests and one of its legs formed with a Vertical guide portion, of a rod vertically movable on such guide portion having an operating handleprojected above the side arm, and a foot portion adapted to be projected below the rocker, and a locking device located adjacent the seat, having an upwardly projectable leverarms atthe sides having main wheels journaled thereon, a latch mechanism and a pivoted lever carrying a caster wheel at the rear end and having its front end projected and arranged to automatically lock in en gagement with the aforesaid latch when the chair rests on the wheels and the body is tilted forward, substantially as shown and described.

The combination, with the rocking chair and its vertically adjustable side wheels, of the centrally arranged lever fulcrumedbeneath the chair seat, the rear wheel on the lever, and a locking device to engage the front end of the lever, this being automatically locked at; the forward rocking of the chair, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a rocking chair, having adjustable bearing wheels journaled thereon and a lock mechanism arranged nnder the seat of the chair, of a lever pivoted centrally under the chair, a caster wheeljournaled on the rear end thereof, a guide for the front end ot' the lever to hold it from lateral movement, said front end having a lock p0rtion adapted to automatically engage the lock mechanism as the chair is tilted forward and hand operated releasing devices connected with such lock mechanism, all arranged substantially as and for the purposes described.

WILLIAM G. MAGEE. Witnesses:

GEORGE C. WURsTER, ALBERT E. HEARD. 

